Elephant Poaching

News, information and statistics about elephant poaching. Facts about the killing of elephants for their ivory and the ivory trade is collected from wildlife charities, intelligence reports and other public criminal justice information.

The New York Times reported on the various tactics that elephant ivory poachers are deploying against park rangers in Central Africa.

Experts are reporting that the poachers are using former soldiers who are employing military tactics to kill rangers that come across their activities. In Kenya, six rangers were killed during 2012. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, 5 people were killed during the summer of 2012 when poachers raided a wildlife reserve. In Mozambique, intelligence reports are stating that poachers are using land mines.

In addition to killing park rangers, the ivory traffickers are finding various ways to avoid the detection of rangers. In Zimbabwe, poachers are killing elephants for their ivory and then spreading poison onto the dead bodies. The poison is used to kill vultures so that park rangers are unable to know when elephants have been killed.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has reported that 4 out of every 10 elephants that died between 2002 and 2006 were killed by poachers. In 2012, CITES estimates that poachers are the cause of 8 out of 10 elephant deaths in Africa.

In April 2012, international wildlife monitoring group TRAFFIC found 3,389 online advertisements for wildlife products such as tiger bone, elephant ivory, rhino horns and hawksbill turtle products. The various wildlife products were being offered through 15 different e-commerce sites and auction websites written in Chinese.

In the same month, authorities in China responsible for stopping the illegal wildlife trade investigated 700 cases, closed 628 online shops selling wildlife products, and deleted 1,607 pieces of information regarding the black market trade of animals from the Internet.

Environmental protections officials have stated that poachers have been killing elephants in Thailand’s national parks for the purpose of wildlife trafficking. The poachers kill the elephants mainly for their ivory tusks, which can be sold for $1,500 per kilogram on the black market as of February 2012. In addition to the tusks, the elephant’s meat and genitals are sold to smugglers as exotic foods and for use in traditional medicine across Asia.

Not all elephants that are seen by poachers are killed. In addition to the body parts, elephants that are alive are a profitable product for the traffickers. According to wildlife officials, baby elephants are a lucrative item to sell on the black market due to its high demand. Traffickers are able to sell a baby elephant for up to $7,000 to customers who want to use the elephant in Thailand’s bustling tourism industry. In order to get the baby elephant, poachers and traffickers must first kill the adult elephant that is protecting the baby.